Affairs of the Nation

Lord Mountbatten

Affairs of the Nation

KINCORA COVER-UP — AGAIN

THE KINCORA Boys’ Home scandal, as old as the northern Troubles, not only refuses to go away but now threatens to burst into the open again, this time with much... Read more »
Jay Bourke Ellie Kisyombe Francesca McDonagh Ted Cunningham National Space Centre An Irish Goodbye Oscar Robert Quirke Ciara Kelly Executive Women Gathering Doug Taylor Florian Haufe Robbie Henshaw Bill Shipsey Breaking the Silence L’Ecrivain Ronan McNally National Lottery Michael Roche Energy Action Balls.ie Newspapers VAT Abbey Theatre Patricia Madden Irish Banking Culture Board Randox Aoife Gallagher Book Dalai Lama Trinity Trevor White RTÉ Chairperson Shane Houlihan Noel Smyth IKC Bob Geldof Landlord Ireland Neutrality Ukraine

Affairs of the Nation

AID FOR DALAI LAMA

the 87-year-old Dalai Lama must be wondering where Robo is when you need her, as a Trinity College Dublin (TCD) committee agonises about whether to upset the Chinese government by... Read more »
Simon Coveney Irish Defence Spending

Affairs of the Nation

GUNS’N’HOUSES

THE “MODEST” 5.6% increase in Irish defence spending – to €1.174bn – in Budget 2023 appeared not to cause any negative reaction from either the minister responsible, Simon Coveney, or... Read more »
Micheal Martin Fianna Fáil Housing Crisis

Affairs of the Nation

MICHEÁL MARTIN’S NIMBYISM

TAOISEACH Micheál Martin became a little tetchy last Sunday when Justin McCarthy of RTÉ’s This Week programme reminded him that he had described the housing crisis as “the single most... Read more »
Alexander Lukashenko

Affairs of the Nation

AER LINGUS HACKED AGAIN?

WHEN AER LINGUS suffered a significant IT outage on September 10, Goldhawk pointed out that the account provided by the airline made little sense (see The Phoenix 23/09/22). A more... Read more »
David Barniville

Affairs of the Nation

BARNIVILLE DEFENDS ‘PRIVATE’ JUDGES

WITH IMPECCABLE timing, just as the first ever judicial misconduct complaints procedure is due, High Court president Mr Justice David Barniville proceeds to demonstrate – for the second time –... Read more »
Jay Bourke Ellie Kisyombe Francesca McDonagh Ted Cunningham National Space Centre An Irish Goodbye Oscar Robert Quirke Ciara Kelly Executive Women Gathering Doug Taylor Florian Haufe Robbie Henshaw Bill Shipsey Breaking the Silence L’Ecrivain Ronan McNally National Lottery Michael Roche Energy Action Balls.ie Newspapers VAT Abbey Theatre Patricia Madden Irish Banking Culture Board Randox Aoife Gallagher Book Dalai Lama Trinity Trevor White RTÉ Chairperson Shane Houlihan Noel Smyth IKC Bob Geldof Landlord Ireland Neutrality Ukraine

Affairs of the Nation

FINE GAEL BORDER POLL

MORE EVIDENCE of Leo Varadkar’s cunning plot to outmanoeuvre Micheál Martin on the national question (see The Phoenix 9/9/22) came with his appearance at the Ireland’s Future event at the... Read more »
Geraldine Byrne Nason AIHS

Affairs of the Nation

MICHAEL D’S NEW YORK PALS

TWO SIGNIFICANT twists in the ongoing saga of the attempt to sell off the prestigious American Irish Historical Society (AIHS) building in New York have created a dilemma for the... Read more »
Michael McDowell Michael Collins Statue

Affairs of the Nation

FF/FG CIVIL WARS

THE PERSISTENCE of Cork City Fine Gael councillors and others in their quest to honour Michael Collins with the erection of a statue has finally been rewarded. But it’s no... Read more »
Jolene Bunting

Affairs of the Nation

CAUGHT RED HANDED

CONTROVERSIAL LOYALIST Jolene Bunting was elected to Belfast City Council in 2014. Offensive comments about Muslims, jokes about the famine and allowing British first deputy leader Jayda Fransen to broadcast... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Willie Mullins

Pillars of Society

PROFILE: WILLIE MULLINS

THERE ARE few personalities who have ever matched the dominance in Irish sport of the current number one national hunt trainer, Willie Mullins. His... Read more »

The Young Bloods

Paul Murphy

The Young Bloods

YOUNG BLOOD: PAUL MURPHY

WHILE SINN Féin’s continuing increase in support is a source of horror and trepidation to the old established parties, spare a thought for the... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Sally Hayden Simon Coveney Refugees

Fit to Print?

‘IRISH TIMES’ SAVES COVENEY’S BLUSHES

INCORRIGIBLE JOURNALIST Sally Hayden recently spoiled one of those feel-good occasions so beloved by Irish ministers when they posture as benevolent, first-world statesmen comforting the afflicted. In particular Hayden, whose... Read more »
Marina Sologub Eilis O'Hanlon Ian Kehoe Danny McConnell Sindo O'Connor Mediahuis Stephen Collins Book Justine McCarthy Rewriting the Troubles Lynn Ruane Sinn Féin

Fit to Print?

OAKLEY EXITS POST

THE DEPARTURE of Business Post editor Richie Oakley is just the latest such resignation and underlines the flight of national editors from their positions in the last 12 months. The... Read more »
Richie Oakley

Fit to Print?

OAKLEY RIDES AGAIN

BUSINESS POST editor Richie Oakley is on the move again and has gone over to what many journalists deride as the ‘dark side’, ie public relations, with his recruitment to... Read more »

Last Refuge

Micheal Martin Fianna Fail SDLP

Last Refuge

SDLP SPLIT WITH FIANNA FÁIL

THE ANNOUNCEMENT of the split sounded more like non-consummatum than divorce as the two partners to the supposed union, Fianna Fáil and the SDLP, never got into bed with each... Read more »
Fionnan Sheahan Leo Varadkar Mediahuis

Last Refuge

VARADKAR’S ‘BAD’ PRESS

CLEARLY INTENT on hitting the ground running as he faces into his rightful place as taoiseach in two months’ time, Leo Varadkar must be concerned at the ongoing belligerence from... Read more »
Frances Black Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis

Last Refuge

FF ARD FHEIS

A MISCHIEVOUS leak from disloyal Fianna Fáil sources to the Irish Daily Mail spoke of “abysmally low” numbers having registered to attend the party’s ard fheis just a week beforehand... Read more »
Ivana Bacik

Last Refuge

BACIK’S NO-SHOW ON COST-OF-LIVING PLATFORM

A RARE left-wing unity manifest itself recently with Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit and left Independents as well as the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and others... Read more »

Hush Hush

Adriaan Palm Ireland Tax Haven

Hush Hush

DOUBLE DUTCH

IN THE last fortnight Dutch MEP Paul Tang travelled to the Emerald Isle as he had a bone to pick about the thorny question of Ireland’s tax system. Tang, a... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Bog-Cuttings-Defaul

Bog Cuttings

BOG CUTTINGS

Banging on garda van Siobhan Lynch (22) of Athcarne, Duleek, appeared before Drogheda District Court charged with engaging in abusive behaviour towards a garda and public intoxication. Judge Eirinn McKiernan... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

Eamon Ryan Budget 2023

Fowl Emissions

WEAK CLIMATE BUDGET 2023

When delivering Budget 2023, finance minister Pascal Donohoe referred to “our defining challenge of climate change”. Those expecting this budget to be the moment where the rhetoric of Ireland’s 2019... Read more »
Data Centre Carbon Emissions Conor Skehan Chris Hazzard

Fowl Emissions

SCEPTIC SKEHAN

THE Sunday Independent continues to platform landscape architect, planner and would-be influencer extraordinaire Conor Skehan. While lacking either expertise or credibility on energy or climate, Skehan now regaling Sindo readers... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Paschal Donohoe

The Hot Air Brigade

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Prudent Paschal channels his inner Charlie McCreevy with a giveaway Budget that leaves Sinn Féin in stunned silence. Senan Molloy’s headline in the Irish Independent We are a small team... Read more »

High Society

Peter McKenna Tradition Now National Concert Hall Board

High Society

NCH’S NEW TUNE

THE POPULAR Tradition Now bi-annual traditional musical series returns to the National Concert Hall (NCH) this month and will feature some big names, including singer Luka Bloom, piper Paddy Keenan... Read more »
Angela Scanlon

High Society

ANGELA SCANLON’S MANY HATS

WITH A new season of Angela Scanlon’s Ask Me Anything returning to RTÉ, potential audience members have been asked to submit application forms. A question for the presenter might be,... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Catherine Martin Arts Union of Ireland

Behind the Scenes

PRAXIS AND THE VENICE BIENNALE

WHEN THE Arts Union of Ireland – also known as Praxis – announced itself on the scene last year (see The Phoenix 9/4/21), it was clear the new entity intended... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Homer Scott Daniel Dunne Darragh O’Loughlin

Sport of Kings

O’LOUGHLIN’S ROUGH RIDE

THE NEW chief executive of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), Darragh O’Loughlin, had his first experience of sitting in the Oireachtas hot seat at a recent public accounts committee... Read more »
Suzanne Eade

Sport of Kings

EADE IN THE SADDLE

HORSE RACING Ireland (HRI) chief executive Suzanne Eade also felt the heat of the public accounts committee chinwag last month, with questions about a land deal at Tipperary Racecourse among... Read more »
Dundalk Racecourse Paul Hensey Irish National Hunt Horse-racing Doping Paddy Walsh Tom Kelly Suspension

Sport of Kings

MAHON’S SETBACKS

STEPHEN MAHON – the star witness in Paul Kimmage’s Sunday Indo series of allegations of widespread doping in horse-racing circles published earlier this year – has suffered yet another setback,... Read more »
Brian Kavanagh Goffs Million

Sport of Kings

BIG BOYS’ BIG POT

THE CURRAGH’S revamped weekend of racing, which included the Goffs Million and the €600,000 Friends of The Curragh Irish Cesarewitch handicap, was hailed as a great success by track CEO... Read more »

Reviews

Shane Ross Mary Lou McDonald

Books

MARY LOU McDONALD – SHANE ROSS

“I must make a confession… I have known and liked Mary Lou McDonald for many years.” Shane Ross anticipated co-operation in writing her biography but Mary Lou McDonald politely declined,... Read more »

Moneybags

Rahul Dhir Tullow Oil

Moneybags

DISAPPOINTING TULLOW OIL SHARES NOW UNDERVALUED

WITH OIL prices averaging over $100 a barrel in the first half of this year, the oil industry worldwide has been experiencing a profit bonanza, with super majors such as... Read more »
Dermot Desmond

Moneybags

DATALEX’S VALUATION IMPOSSIBLE TO EXPLAIN

WERE IT not for the significant financial support of Dermot Desmond, Datalex would have crashed and burned by now. It is difficult to understand the billionaire’s motivation, given that the... Read more »

The Hot Water Brigade

Alvan Hunt Hexafly

The Hot Water Brigade

ALVAN HUNT’S LATEST INVESTMENT

THERE’S BEEN plenty of, er, buzz around Hexafly lately, the Irish company that wants to turn insects into animal feed to provide a global supply of sustainable meal and fertiliser.... Read more »
John Collison

The Hot Water Brigade

JOHN COLLISON’S PREDECESSORS

THE ANNOUNCEMENT by John Collison that millions of euro are to be lashed out upgrading the derelict Millbrook House next to his impressive Abbeyleix House marks the latest chapter in... Read more »
Judge Siobhan Stack Leech Papers

The Hot Water Brigade

LEECH PAPERS FILED AWAY

A FORMER document disposal and paper recycling business called Leech Papers Ltd (LPL) has been placed in liquidation by the High Court, more than a year after an application from... Read more »
God’s Creatures Film Tax Relief Anne Rossi Desmond Live Nation ESCADIA LTD Al Porter Comeback Gordon Elliott Clayton Love Ivan Wilde hot-water-brigade Parnells GAA Lawsuit

The Hot Water Brigade

IVAN WILDE’S NEW COURSE

CHOPPY WATERS recently for fishing boat skipper Ivan Wilde, who has battled complaints from some workers about pay and conditions, while also winding up one of his profitable companies. Wilde’s... Read more »